THE award-winning children's classic, Room On The Broom, which tells the story of a kind witch who invites a collection of animals to join her on her broom, is set to premiere on Christmas Day.

IT'S going to be a very Julia Donaldson Christmas. The Children’s Laureate’s work will again be taking pride of place on the Christmas Day TV schedules, with the premiere of a star-studded animated ­adaptation of another of her much loved, award- winning kids’ classics, Room On The Broom.

It’s something she is getting used to. Previous adaptations of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child have been awarded the same coveted slot. Both those films are to be screened in the run up to Room On The Broom – The Gruffalo’s Child on Christmas Eve and The Gruffalo (which was watched by an audience of 9.8 million when it was first shown in 2009) on Christmas morning.

It may be familiar but it doesn’t stop Julia, 64, feeling much like a child on, well, Christmas Day.

“It’s very exciting. In fact, I’m even more excited about this one than the Gruffalo because it’s so beautifully done,” the Glasgow-based writer said.

“It’s a lovely feeling to write any kind of book but when you write a play or something that is made into a film, it really is quite amazing to see it in flesh and blood - or rather in cartoon form. It is almost a God-like feeling of ‘I created them, I dreamed up those characters’. It is an amazing feeling.”

The Room On The Broom, which was written in 2001 by Julia and regular partner, illustrator Axel Scheffler, tells the story about a kind witch who invites a surprising collection of animals to join her on her broom, much to the frustration of her cat.

The ever-growing gang ultimately have to stand together when a fearsome dragon decides he wants a dinner of witch with chips.

She said: “There’s more characterisation in this one, all the animals get their ride on the broom stick, and they all have their own distinct personalities. It’s very sweet, very appealing to grown-ups, as well as children.”

The film has attracted an all-star cast. Simon Pegg narrates, while Gillian Anderson stars as the Witch, Rob Brydon as the Cat, Martin Clunes as the Dog, Sally Hawkins as the Bird, David Walliams as the Frog and Timothy Spall as the dastardly Dragon.

The cast have been enchanted by the story but most of them were already familiar with it as parents of young children.

Shaun of the Dead star Simon said: “It was a real treat for me to become part of a story I have read to my own daughter many times. To see it come to life so beautifully and with such a wealth of great vocal talent has been something of an honour.

“I cannot wait to sit down and watch it with my family.”

X Files star Gillian said: “How many hundreds of times had I read this book?

“What an honour and so much fun to work with such talented animators and get to find the voice of The Witch.”

The book is brought to the screen by Magic Light Pictures, the company that also made The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child.

Producer Michael Rose said: “We wanted to do more in the world of Julia and Axel and we felt Room on the Broom was another fabulous book for several reasons, not least that it is one of Julia’s finest rhymes, it is a terrific story and it is another much-loved classic.”

Director Max Lang, who also worked on the original Gruffalo film, had the task of bringing Room on The Broom to life.

He said: “We took the same approach as with The Gruffalo. We tried to take the book as a guideline and so looked at illustrations and tried to get inspiration and more importantly try to figure out what the core theme of the story is and how we could flesh that out.

“For Room On The Broom, it was togetherness and family and then we tried to fill in the space with characters and try to push that theme more forward.

“What’s great about Room On The Broom is there are so many characters and you could play the tension between them. It is not just about a mouse and Gruffalo, it is about a whole family of characters.

“It is a different dynamic and you have a dragon for a real finale.”

Adapting it for the screen was done with the help of Julia, who enjoys a particularly happy relationship with Magic Light Pictures.

She said: “I wrote a screenplay and, although they haven’t stuck religiously to that, they have incorporated a lot of the ideas I had, like I wanted the frog to have obsessive/compulsive disorder because he is very clean.

“In the book he just says ‘I am a frog, as clean as can be’, but they have him brushing dust off lily leaves, washing himself and things like that.

“The company is so lovely. They come up to see me in Glasgow and show me the latest development or if they run into any problem.

“For instance at first they were wondering why the witch was on this journey and where she lived. Did she have a permanent base? Was she just nomadic?

“All these things get talked through because they don’t just want to and do their own thing. I really appreciate that.”

Like millions, she will be watching Room On The Broom but said: “I was brought up not to watch television on Christmas Day, but just to play.

“Normally, if it wasn’t for the fact Room on the Broom was on, we wouldn’t have the television on at all, we would just be playing games and things.

“I think it is a wonderful slot except, perhaps, for certain people like my brother-in-law, who fell asleep during both the other ones!

“The fact The Gruffalo’s Child is going to be on Christmas Eve and The Gruffalo in the morning, as well... I do sometimes pinch myself.”